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What is your guilty home design pleasure?

We all have those guilty pleasures in our lives whether it is a raunchy reality TV show or a CD you would deny owning

KIM MECKLER

We all have those guilty pleasures in our lives whether it is a raunchy reality TV show or a CD you would deny owning (Michael Bolton). Those deep dark secrets that sit as embers in our sub consciousness only to be ignited in the privacy of our homes or vehicles when we shamelessly watch sub TV stars in outrageous competitions or sing that retro ballad at the top of our lungs.

It stands to reason if we have guilty pleasures in entertainment areas we must be harbouring some deep down dirty design dilemmas that we aren’t willing to admit.

I suspect there are closets teeming with frayed blankets and towels and the occasional toss pillow or a flipped sofa cushion hiding an embarrassing stain. Which one of us can deny ever moving a chair to cover a stubborn carpet stain or putting town a pretty area rug to mask scratches in our hardwood?

Every house in its time will suffer the occasional blemish and I’m sure that we have all done a quick cover up until we find the time to repair it!

My favourite tools are small touch up paint brushes, a black sharpie and a deep brown stain pen. These three items help me keep those daily nicks and bumps out of plain site and allow me to touch up walls, picture frames, furniture and even my hardwood floors.

Sometimes an item in your home is too valuable (either financially or emotionally) to get rid of when it may only be suffering from one little nick. A quick touch up will take nicks out of picture frames and furniture and will improve the overall look. A gorgeous black frame around a mirror that has a white scratch along its face will show only the scratch and the rest of the beautiful frame is lost.

A quick refresh with paint or even a quick dab with that sharpie may be just enough to hide the scar if you have weekend guests at your door.

If you have worn or damaged linens it may be time to create garage rags or at least keep them in the back of your closet while presenting new towels to your guests.

If your toss cushions are ragged, stained or chewed (that would be my puppy), you may benefit from cushion covers which will spruce up the old and tired for less money than buying the whole pillow. Maybe, just maybe, the next fabric I choose to cover my bed cushions with won’t be as appetizing to my little dog!

We all have those guilty secrets, sweat pants you won’t wear in public and times when we don’t vacuum as often as we should.

Most of us have kicked an ice cube under the fridge instead of picking it up and I’m sure more than one of you (me) is guilty of hiding dirty laundry in the closet before you show someone your home!

My mom used to use her condo as a show suite for the developer and on one short notice viewing she hid the lasagna she was making in the master closet. It would have made a great conversation starter if those viewers had opened her closet!

Kim Meckler is an interior designer in Red Deer with Carpet Colour Centre.